The present invention relates in general to an apparatus and method for joining blanks together and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for aligning and joining individual blanks together along an overlapping portion thereof by a suitable bonding agent provided therebetween.
The apparatus and method of the present invention may be used to manufacture a variety of products, including containers, file folders and a number of other items for which one piece of rigid or semi-rigid material need be attached to another. In the manufacture of storage and/or package-type containers, e.g., product display packages and the like, such containers are generally constructed from one or more blanks of suitable material folded into the appropriate shape of the desired container by an apparatus constructed for such purpose. Ultimately, such blanks are secured in their folded shape by a bonding agent provided along their mating portions. One such novel container constructed in part from a transparent plastic blank is that described in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 175,404, filed on Aug. 5, 1980 and assigned to the same assignee as that of the present invention. Such package provides the retailer with a number of advantages over conventional all-cardboard packages, for example, visual display of the product, limited protection of the product from deterioration as, for example, by atmospheric moisture or other causes, pilfer-proof protection, and protection of the product from rough handling both in shipment and by potential customers.
One form of such partially transparent package described in the above-mentioned patent application is constructed to include a rear wall of paperboard, cardboard or the like, which rear wall may have printing and/or decorative material applied to either face thereof with information in regard to the product, instructions for use of the product, the application of a trademark associated with the product, etc. The construction of such a novel partially transparent package initially requires that the transparent plastic blank be bonded along a portion thereof in overlapping relationship to a portion of the rear wall. Prior to the bonding operation, however, the transparent plastic blank and rear wall must be appropriately aligned such that the finally-formed package will be appropriately positioned with respect to the rear wall and in registration with any printing and/or decoration thereon.
There has heretofore been generally unknown an apparatus which is suitably adapted to perform the function of aligning and bonding individual blanks together in the manner required in the construction of the above-noted packages. In this regard, illustrative is U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,085 which discloses an apparatus for assembling composite containers of the knock-down or collapsible folding type. A panel blank of transparent material is supplied from a hopper and placed onto a moving platform carried along by a conveyor. A pair of locating fingers secured to the conveyor capture the leading edge of the panel blank to cause aligned placement of the panel blank on the platform between a plurality of circumferential vertically extending alignment pins which are secured to the platform and conveyor. An adhesive applicator of the wheel or disc type applies a layer of suitable adhesive along the lateral top side portions of the panel blank as the conveyor and platform move the panel blank into proper registration under the adhesive applicator. A pair of side-forming blanks of paperboard or cardboard material are aligned overlapping the lateral top side portions of the transparent panel blank via the circumferential pins extending through alignment apertures provided in the side-forming blanks. The side-forming blanks are accordingly bonded to the panel blank by the adhesive provided therebetween and by a compressive force applied to the overlapping portion by a pressing device constructed from a plurality of pressure bearing blocks secured to a moving chain aligned over the overlapping portion. The thus-formed planar composite container can then be folded along its appropriate score lines into the final container shape.
The composite container assembling apparatus of the above-described prior art construction includes a number of notable disadvantages. For example, such apparatus requires the use of projecting locating fingers and alignment pins which, by their natural extension, can be easily damaged or broken during operation of the apparatus. In the event such condition goes unnoticed by the operator of the apparatus, the panel and side-forming blanks will generally be improperly positioned within the apparatus such that the resulting assembled composite containers will be defective rendering them unusable with their associated economic loss. As noted, the side-forming blanks are required to be provided with a plurality of apertures to effect the alignment of the side-forming blanks with the panel blank via the alignment pins. In this regard, the presence of such apertures is considered objectionable where they are readily visible in the assembled container by detracting from the container's aesthetic appearance.
In addition, the thus-described prior art composite container assembling apparatus is not readily adaptable to be employed with panel and side-forming blanks of varying sizes. In this regard, each of the plurality of platforms, locating fingers and aligning pins must be individually adjusted over the entire conveyor assembly each time a panel blank or side-forming blank of different size is incorporated into a composite container using such apparatus. In many cases the apparatus described in the prior art is not at all adaptable to the joining of blanks of certain configurations. In this regard, it is to be noted that such apparatus requires that the bonding agent be applied to the entire length of the top side of the panel blank and that the side forming blank then be placed on top of the bonding agent. The present inventions allows for the placement of the bonding agent and blanks on either the top or the bottom of each other. Also, with the use of an automatic glue gun, the bonding agent need not be applied along the entire length of the blank; rather, it may be applied only to those areas where it is needed. In addition, the use by the apparatus of the prior art of alignment pins outside the body of the panel blank requires that some portion of the side forming blank overlap the edge of the panel blank. With the present invention there is no such requirement, as the surface area of one blank may fall entirely within the surface area of the other blank, with no overlap over the edge.
Further, the use of such locating fingers and aligning pins results in a slower operation of such apparatus along with an associated loss of output. In particular, the need for placement of the side forming blanks over the alignment pins would generally necessitate the use of an uneven slow intermittent motion operation as opposed to the smooth high speed continuous operation of the present invention.
Accordingly, it can be appreciated that there is need for an apparatus and method for joining individual blanks together which is adaptable to blanks of varying sizes and, in which such apparatus operates accurately, flexibly, cheaply, continuously and rapidly, and at a minimum of expense.